The Jilting Of Granny Weatherall Loss Of Hapsy

Katherine Ann Porter’s short story, “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall,” is entirely about death and longing. Throughout the story, it is evident that Granny Weatherall longs for both of her lost lovers as she is nearing her death. But there is someone else who Granny wants to see: her favorite daughter, Hapsy. Unfortunately for Granny, Hapsy is dead and has been for a long time. The tragic loss of her beloved Hapsy has a tremendous impact on Granny’s death, both socially and psychologically.
Although she is mentioned earlier, Hapsy first appears when Granny Weatherall dreams of seeing her with a baby in her arms. Granny remarks that she has to “go a long way back through a great many rooms” to reach the vision of Hapsy. These “rooms” are memories

in her mind, and the fact that she has to sort through so many of them means that it has been a long time since she has seen Hapsy. Since Granny spends so much of her time looking for Hapsy, she misses out on any opportunities she has to be with her other children before her death. When Granny finally reaches Hapsy, she says that Hapsy’s skin begins to look gray like it is coated in gauze and Hapsy looks “flimsy” (Porter, 537).These descriptions represent the decaying of both Hapsy’s body and Granny’s memories of Hapsy. This encounter that Granny has with Hapsy also means that Hapsy passed away at a relatively young age. Losing a young child is extremely difficult for a mother and often has a life-changing impact on the way that the mother lives the rest of her life. In Granny’s case, she has become quite delusional as her time to die approaches. She watches the people around her “float” away and keeps losing track of time (Porter, 534). These misconstrued perceptions are caused by the stress of the traumatic event of losing her dear Hapsy.
When Granny is thinking of how there is no need to worry anymore, she recalls a time when there was. She remembers waking up in the middle of the night to the cries of a child and rushing with John to find out what was wrong. “John, get the doctor now, Hapsy’s time has come” she then calls out (Porter, 538). When someone makes the statement that a person’s “time has come”, they generally mean that the person is about to die. This request for a doctor means that Hapsy suffered from a medical issue that took her from this world at an early age. Children with health problems unintentionally cause an enormous amount of stress for their parents. It is obvious that Granny has had a rough and eventful life, and the undertaking of a constantly ill child would have only increased the burden that Granny has endured. Such afflictions can cause a person to become extremely ill both physically and mentally, and it is obvious that Granny has become so.
When Granny brings up the issue that she is dying, she recalls that she has already prepared herself and her family for her death.

One reason why she did this is that she is somewhat eager to die and see Hapsy in the afterlife. She knows that she has fulfilled her duty on earth and wants to be with her beloved daughter again, therefore she has no qualms about dying. The only concern that has Granny now is whether she will again unite with Hapsy. Although the dream of Hapsy is the only time that Granny actually sees her in the story, there are several other instances where Granny is searching for Hapsy. Even as Granny is nearing her end, she continues “looking for Hapsy” because she expects to see her beyond the grave (Porter, 539). Granny’s expectations of finding Hapsy in the afterlife prove that Hapsy is dead. Her constant search for Hapsy is caused by her longing to be reunited with her long lost

child.
Not only does Hapsy never arrive to say goodbye to Granny on her deathbed, but she also is not mentioned when Granny recalls her children asking her for help.

If Hapsy meant as much to Granny as it appears, then it would be reasonable to assume that Granny would be proud that her favorite child had sought out her help. Granny would have brought this up as she does with her other children. Since she doesn’t, Hapsy must never have asked for Granny’s help due to the fact that she wasn’t alive to do so. Surely Granny thought about this very fact and wished that she was able to help her daughter in any way. Knowing that she couldn’t do so only made her longing for Hapsy worse, which in turn affected her mental health. Throughout this story readers are reminded that Hapsy is Granny’s favorite child. Granny had so little time with her, therefore she cherishes Hapsy the most because she feels that she didn’t love her enough when she was alive. Since Hapsy died at a young age, Granny was afraid that she would forget Hapsy and consequently idolized her in order to compensate for the lost memories she could have made with Hapsy if she was alive. Granny even goes as far to push away her other children when they assist her because she wishes that Hapsy was the one who was helping her. By doing this, Granny isolates herself from the world and refuses any comfort as she is dying. Although she is surrounded by loved ones, she obviously feels incredibly alone when she “lay curled down within

herself” as she finally approaches her last moments.
The loss of one of her children has a major influence on the way that Granny lives and dies. Her life, which was already filled with great suffering, only became more difficult when Hapsy was taken from her. Due to this, Granny’s mental and physical conditions worsen as time passes and she continues to be separated from her lost child. In the end, Granny’s death is filled with loneliness, longing, and despair that will only be overcome in the afterlife when she will again meet Hapsy.